Don't talk to strangers - Lexark
by kittyxuchiha11
Summary: Alicia starts talking to a girl on the radio who says her name's Elyza Lex. That's the fakest name she's ever heard and obviously some weird kind of catfish. but there's something strangely intriguing about Elyza that Alicia simply can't resist. Or, that one where Alicia talks to Elyza on the radio instead of Jack.
When Alicia listens to the radio she expects to hear happy news. News that they've found a cure to the virus. Or maybe even just news that there's somewhere safe for people to go. But of course she only hears the news of the death that's spreading and how the military are abandoning all posts they have occupied. That the world has officially turned to shit and no one is going to even try help.

She's shocked, of course she is. She's shocked and she's angry. and as she falls onto the bed she's claimed as her own, she doesn't know whether to wants to scream or cry.

The radio is still on beside her, the endless stream of bad news is all she hears as tears sting her eyes. She's over come with anger as those tears slip down her cheeks and she slams a hand out towards the radio to try make it shut up. But it doesn't shut up, instead she manages to change the channel and there's just static. Another reminder that she's truly all alone now.

Sobs shake her body as she covers her eyes with her hands and wallows in the self pity which is indefinitely her shitty life. Some logical part of her brain tells her that crying like this is good for her and she should just let it out. But that stubborn pride she's always had tells her to suck it up and start acting her damn age. This is literally the end of the world and here she is crying for no reason apart from that yeah it is the end of the world and her life is definitely over.

At first she doesn't hear it because she's too busy sniffling to herself over her lost potential, but then she does. Her eyes widen slightly as she looks towards the radio which now has an actual human voice coming from it.

"This is probably the stupidest thing I've ever done, but fuck it. Is anyone out there, if you can hear this please say something" A broad Australian accent drawls from the speaker, and for a moment Alicia can't believe she's actually hearing this. Someone's actually out there and alive. Someone who isn't a flesh eating monster.

Alicia sits up and presses the button to respond before she can clearly think about what she's doing. It catches up to her all too quickly and she actually drops the small walkie talkie attached to the radio. She listens to the silence for a minute trying to figure out what to do when the same voice speaks again.

"Is someone there? I'm not a zombie I swear…" the stranger says, her voice cautious but humorous as she trails off "Come on, don't be shy. If someone is there I'd love to talk to someone while the world goes to shit around us both"

Alicia just stares ahead for a moment not entirely sure what to do. Not even one minute ago she'd thought everyone was dead and there was no hope. And now there's this girl who's very much alive and actually wants to talk to her. She's aware her hands are shaking as she once again picks it up and presses the button. She takes a breath in simply deciding that she has to do this.

"I'm here"

* * *

"So, I've come up with a way to pass the time"

"And what's that?"

"Lets play 21 questions and pretend we're still stupid kids" Elyza says and Alicia can practically hear the smile in her voice, which embarrassingly enough makes a smile pull at Alicia's own lips.

"Okay"

"So cutie, what's your favourite colour?"

"Way too easy, blue" Alicia replies with ease "What age are you?"

"Checking I'm not some 60 year old man eh?"

Alicia rolls her eyes "Just answer the question"

"Fine, but just because you sound like a pretty girl and I never say no to pretty girls. I'm 20"

"Well you're a bit off 60 yet then" Alicia says with a smirk, earning one of the most lovely sounds Alicia has come to know in the last few days. Elyza's laugh.

"Okay pretty girl, favourite shape?"

"Seriously?"

"Come one, you gotta play by the rules"

"Fine. I don't know- a square?"

"You don't sound very convinced on what your favourite shape is" Elyza says smugly.

"I doubt you know what your favourite shape is either"

"Oh, I do"

"Uh huh"

"It's a equilateral triangle"

"…It's because it sounds fancy, isn't it" Alicia asks and Elyza laughs.

"You know me so well babe. Now come on, your turn"

Alicia stops to think for a second before replying "Favourite flower?"

"Ohh, good one. I think I've got to say a rose"

"Didn't pin you as the romantic type"

"I am incredibly romantic I'll let you know" Elyza says with mock annoyance "But nah, it's cause I have a sweet tat of one with bared wire and shit"

"Let me guess, your first very illegal tattoo and you were going through your emo phase?"

"You really do know me so well, cutie"

Alicia snorts in response.

"Okay cream puff, favourite TV series?"

"Is that even a question you can ask anymore since there is no TV?"

"Just answer the question" Elyza says mockingly, trying to put on Alicia's accent which sounds absolutely terrible and makes Alicia actually giggle.

There's a short silence between them as Alicia stares up at the ceiling from where she's lying on her bed.

"Alicia?"

"You know, this feels oddly like I'm doing some weird sort of speed dating" Alicia admits.

Elyza laughs "Well sweetheart, I'm the only one to talk to so unless you have other girls on other channels it isn't exactly speed dating"

Alicia raises an eyebrow "And why do you think I'd be chatting up girls and not guys?"

"Because, cupcake. All you've done is flirt with me"

Alicia wants to quickly deny that one but realises she can't. That's when it first hits her that maybe talking to Elyza is a really really bad idea.

* * *

It's just after 2am according to the digital clock next to her bed when Elyza's voice next comes from the radio.

"Alicia, you there?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm here" Alicia says tiredly, clearing her throat to try make herself sound a little less like she's just woken up. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Just couldn't sleep" there's a slight pause before Elyza speaks again "Hope I didn't wake you"

"Nah, not really" Alicia says, quickly letting go of the button so she can yawn and not give away the fact she was indeed fast asleep. It's embarrassing enough to let Elyza know she'd woken her up. It's even more embarrassing for Alicia to admit that she's woken up because she really wants to hear Elyza's voice.

For a few minutes the radio is quiet and Alicia is afraid that Elyza's fallen back asleep. But then she hears a gulp on the other end and Elyza taking a deep breath before she speaks.

"Does it ever get to you?"

Alicia turns over, groaning softly as the bed she's sleeping on really isn't the best and it's hurting her back. From her new position she can see the light from the radio illuminating room. It makes her smile for some reason, if that's because this radio is the only way she can talk to someone who actually seems to care about her she doesn't know. She wants to convince herself that she's just happy that she's able to do what her family told her by listening, but really she knows she's only doing this for Elyza now.

"Alicia, you still there?" Elyza's voice draws her out of her thoughts and she panics for a moment.

"Yeah. Sorry, just thinking"

"It's something I don't like to think about" Elyza admits quietly and Alicia doesn't think she's ever heard Elyza sound so vulnerable. Elyza has proven so far that she's this badass girl who flirts non stop and is always confident. But now she sounds just broken and it's honestly kind of heart shattering.

"Yeah" Alicia simply replies "Although there's not much else to think about these days. I mean, with everyone who's sick out there. Those who have turned into…"

"As much as I hated college, god what I'd give to go back" Elyza says with a sigh "Always thought a zombie apocalypse would be cool but so far it kinda sucks"

Alicia manages to laugh softly and she can almost imagine the way Elyza smiling at her. She's started doing that recently and it's sort of weird considering she has no idea what Elyza even looks like.

"Hey, Elyza?"

"Yeah, cutie?"

"What do you look like?" she asks before she can really think about how strange of a question it is to ask someone she's probably only going to talk to for a few more days. Because realistically, she can't spend her whole life on this boat talking to some girl on a radio.

"Want to know so you can decide how date worthy I am?" Elyza quips back in record breaking time and Alicia flushes.

"No way. Just uh, changing the subject"

Elyza hums, obviously pretty unconvinced at Alicia's story but goes with it "Okay then sweetheart. If I tell you what I look like, you have to repay the favour and tell me about you"

"Fair enough"

"Well, I'm blonde" Elyza says and Alicia hears the crinkle of clothes like Elyza's just flipped her hair off her shoulder.

"Really, is that all you're gonna give me?"

"It's your turn, come on you agreed to my terms" Although all she knows about the girl on the other end of the radio is that she's blonde. She can imagine Elyza with this infuriating smirk plastered on her face, and it actually makes Alicia's stomach flutter. She quickly puts this feeling down to the fact she's on a boat and feeling a little motion sick or something. It's not like Elyza has that sort of affect over her, no way.

"Fine. My hair's brown"

"I always imagined it would be" Elyza says, and Alicia has to stop herself from expressing her disbelief that the blonde has actually thought that much about her that much that she's actually stopped to imagine what Alicia looks like. She quickly moves on.

"What height are you?"

"I'm not some tall prince coming to snatch you off your feet, but I'm tall enough. 165cm"

"I'm taller that you" Alicia states feeling a little smug.

"What by like an inch right?" Elyza replies with just as much smugness and Alicia feel sort of embarrassed now. Once day she'll out sass Elyza, but today is not that day.

"Yeah but…just tell me something else"

"Hmm, I have blue eyes. What about you, darling?"

"Green" Alicia simply replies trying not to imagine how gorgeous Elyza must actually look with her long blonde hair and blue eyes.

"We'd be like the perfect couple. You know the whole blonde and brunette thing"

"Uh huh. You're forgetting I'm straight" Alicia says with a laugh and Elyza laughs back at her. Although she's pretty sure Elyza is laughing at the idea of her being straight. Which really she can't blame her for because her thoughts just now are not very straight at all.

"You just keep telling yourself that cupcake"

"How about you stop trying to distract me and get on with the game"

"Well okay bossy" Elyza starts before she pauses as if to think "I'm pretty damn good in bed"

Alicia about chokes on the water she's just taken a sip of from the bottle beside her bed "That is not something about your appearance"

"But it'll be important if we ever meet, cutie"

"Yeah, if we ever meet" Alicia replies trying to give the odder girl attitude. But she realises exactly what she's said as she hears Elyza laugh lowly. "Not that I'd want to do anything with you" she adds quickly, her cheeks turning practically crimson now.

"You'd never be able to resist babe, no one can"

Alicia rolls her eyes, trying to calm herself down as she definitely hasn't been thinking about what Elyza's body must be look like. Okay so maybe she's a little more gay than she originally thought. Or maybe it's just weird teenage hormones doing their thing as usual.

"Where are you anyway?" Alicia asks, trying to change the subject and fast.

"On a fishing boat" Elyza replies back gently, her voice with a new serious edge to it. "Just me, my brother and his wife. It's his boat and when everything went to shit he insisted we all take the boat and go. We'd be safer on the water he said. Yeah we would be if we actually had enough food and water"

"You don't have food and water?" Alicia repeats for the first time realising that others really aren't as lucky as she is with her big fancy yacht and actual supplies.

"We did, but we've been out here for awhile. I mean, you must be in the same situation, right?"

"We have a water filtration system. It's fancy as hell and well yeah, it gives us clean water and everyone seems to be pretty good at fishing and stuff"

Elyza laughs "Wow you must be in a great spot for fishing and rich, lucky you"

Alicia thinks of arguing back that she isn't rich personally, but decides against it as really there's more serious matters at hand.

"Tell me where you are. Maybe we can come get you."

Elyza doesn't say anything for a moment, but then there's the usual crackle and her voice comes over the speaker "Alicia, as much as I would love that, I don't know if it's a good idea"

Alicia is a little taken aback to how serious and actually concerned Elyza sounds now. But she pushes that doubt creeping into her thoughts aside. "But you can't be that far away if the radio can pick you up, right? If there's only three of you I'm sure you can all say here"

"Alicia, I'm really not sure-"

"Let me do this Elyza, please. Just tell me where you are and I'll go talk to Strand right now"

There's another silence, and for a moment it seems like Elyza isn't coming back. But she does, just as she always does. "I can see the fire in the Santa Monica Mountains. Is that on your north or south?"

Alicia scrambles up from her bed and looks out the window "It's really dark I can't see- Wait I see it. North."

"Okay, we're just south of that. Maybe like two or so miles off shore" Elyza says, then she stops, her finger still pressed to the button so Alicia can hear her breathing hitch slightly "Listen, don't ask now. Go to sleep and ask later. I'll be fine until then"

"Are you sure" Alicia asks, although from Elyza's tone she already knows the answer.

"Yeah, g'night Alicia"

The seed of doubt has planted itself within her now and her stomach churns as she thinks about how incredibly suspicious Elyza has just acted. But she pushes it aside once again, remembering people do weird things when they're scared. She just hopes her gut feeling is right and she really can trust Elyza.

* * *

"And this is my damn boat"

Alicia is stunned into silence as Strand lays down 'the rules', which really is just him saying this is his boat and no one gets on board that he doesn't want. Suddenly she's repulsed by the sight of him and can't even stand to be around anyone. Everyone is giving her these little side looks of pity and she absolutely hates it.

She storms back to her cabin, grabbing the radio and making her way outside to the deck where she slumps against one of the white panel walls. She takes a moment to compose herself before she picks up the walkie talkie and speaks into it shakily.

"Elyza" she begins, listening desperately for any sort of sound to tell her Elyza is there.

"Yeah, what's up cream puff?"

"I'm sorry. We-we can't come get you"

Elyza doesn't say anything. The line goes completely dead and Alicia feels the air being sucked out of her lungs as panic starts to set in.

"Elyza? Elyza please, are you there?"

"It's okay, Alicia," Elyza says softly sounding completely stoic. The lack of emotion scares the shit out of Alicia if she's being honest.

"It's- fuck it's not okay though" Alicia says getting herself way too worked up over this "If I owned this boat, I would help you. Of course I would. I would just pick you up, and now I can't, I-"

"It's okay, I got you. I'll see you soon"

Wait, what did she just say?

* * *

She remembers falling asleep with the radio beside her just in case Elyza talks to her again. She knows deep down she's messed up but doesn't want to even think about it because really all she does these days is fuck up. She falls asleep really hoping that what Elyza said in fact has nothing to do with the fact she knows where she is. Not that seeing the blonde would be a incredibly bad thing, she just feels that maybe Elyza has some other intention that will put her family in danger. She needs to protect her family somehow now they've let their guard down thinking they're safe at sea. If Alicia's learned anything from listening to the radio it's that they'll never be safe ever again.

She's woken up by a blood curdling scream and out of instinct she reaches out for the walkie talkie and clutches it in her hand. Before she's even aware of what she's doing she presses the button and is about to ask Elyza if she's okay, when she hears the voices outside her room.

"Why are you doing this? Leave us alone, please!"

It's Ofelia's voice and Alicia knows better than to shout out and see if she's okay. She stays completely still, not even daring to make a sound in case she grabs whoever is out there's attention. There's a thud on her door and she watches the handle absolutely terrified they'll come in. But they don't, and Alicia has never felt happier to hear foot steps walking away from her room and up to the deck.

She lets out a breath she didn't even know she was holding in and presses the button once again. Her hands are shaking and so is her voice as she speaks. "Elyza. Elyza please tell me your there. I need your help, please"

She jumps as the door to her room opens and a man in his thirties stands there smirking at her. "Oh Alicia, how gullible you are"

She just stares at him not sure what to think. For a moment she really has no idea who he is or what he's doing here. And then what he said dawns on her and everything starts to make sense.

"Where's Elyza?" she asks, trying to seem confident but her voice wavers and it just makes his smirk grow larger. He doesn't answer her, just takes a few large steps into the room until he's beside her. She tries to shrink back but he already has a hold of her.

She aught to kick and scream, put up a fight. But honestly, she knows it's not worth it. He literally drags her out the room, giving her a pointed look as her feet drag on the ground. She takes that as her que to cooperate with him and walk, and so she does. She does and she ends up on the deck where the rest of her family are sat with their hands tied, all looking as miserable as she feels.

"Hey Elyza, look who I found" the man shouts, using his arm that isn't holding Alicia to wave across the deck.

Alicia feels tears welling up in her eyes and tries to shallow them back as a blonde woman turns around and her blue eyes meet Alicia's. She looks exactly how Alicia imagined her to, if not more beautiful. And for some reason that's what hurts the most. It hurts knowing Elyza seemed so genuine and someone that Alicia was actually beginning to, dare she say it, really really like.

"Alicia" Elyza says, her eyes now trained on the ground as she comes closer. Alicia feels she should shout at her, scream that she hates her and how dare she do this to her and her family. But the anger isn't there. She see's how Elyza looked at her and knows by the way Elyza was acting on the radio things aren't exactly as they seem.

"I'll take her Jason, go take what you can and I'll keep an eye on them all" Elyza says, her stare firm and confident.

Jason looks between Elyza and the rest of his prisoners before his eyes land on Alicia. He smirks, his stare now fixed on Elyza "And why should I trust you?"

"Because-" Elyza stops, clenching her fists and lowering her voice "Because I baited her for you. It's what you asked me to do and I did as I was told"

Jason looks to the other man walking towards them then back to Elyza before he roughly shoves Alicia forward. She nearly loses her balance, stumbling and closing her eyes as she feels her feet slip beneath her. She quickly moves her arms to try soften her fall, but before she can hit the ground she feels strong arms grabbing her and holding her upright again.

"We'll sweep through and gather what they have. Don't try anything funny or we'll kill them all, got it?"

Alicia keeps her eyes closed not wanting to see what's going on, but she feels someone nod against her and realises it's Elyza that's holding her. She opens her eyes to see Elyza's eyes boring into hers. She looks away as quickly as she can, a faint blush covering her cheeks as she realises her heart isn't beating so fast because of the fear but because of something else.

"Alicia, I'm so sorry-" Elyza begins to say, but Madison interrupts her.

"Get the hell away from my daughter!"

Elyza lets go almost instantly, looking ashamed and almost like she's actually hurt by the words. Alicia honestly can't believe this is the same girl she's been talking to for the last week. She isn't cocky and confident, using cute pet names and flirting just for the hell of it. She's solemn and miserable. If it wasn't for the Australian accent Alicia would no way believe this is actually Elyza.

"Mom, it's okay" Alicia finally says, making Elyza look up at her in surprise and Madison just stares at her in pure confusion. "This is-"

"The girl you've been talking to, right? God Licia didn't know you were that fuckin' stupid" Chris snaps out of nowhere, making everyone turn to look at him. Alicia hangs her head in response, for once believing what he's saying completely true, because god she really is that incredibly stupid for believing there was anyone good left in this shitty world.

"Hey, don't you dare take this out on her"

She looks up to see Elyza actually glaring at Chris, which in turn seems to surprise everyone. Elyza turns to meet Alicia's gaze again, sighing softly as a small almost forced smile pulls at her lips "You okay princess? That asshole didn't hurt you did he" she says obviously referring to Jason.

"I- no, he didn't" she replies, not being able to help the smile that automatically comes to her face as she hears Elyza using such silly pet name for her. Even in their current situation where she's trying to figure out what the hell is going on, Elyza can still make her smile. That's probably a bad sign, a sign she's in way too deep and needs to completely cut this off before anything else happens.

It hits her at that exact moment that this is where it will be cut off. She was baited to give away their location so these people could come rob them. Elyza's whole nice guy act must have indeed of been an act to get Alicia to tell her what she needed to know. That's clear as day just now with the noises of Jason and his friend raiding their supplies. So why does she not believe that's what's really going on?

Maybe she's too attached to Elyza and wants to believe that all people have some good in them. Or maybe it's the fact she can tell Elyza isn't in on this. The way she tried to tell Alicia to not come get her, the way she kept leaving suddenly as if she was being forced to. The way she clenched her fists as she spoke to Jason.

"Elyza. Please, just. Please tell me this isn't what it looks like" she almost begs as her eyes meet Elyza's again. They stare at each other for a couple of seconds and Alicia swears she see's so many conflicting emotions flickering behind the blonde's eyes before Elyza sighs and shakes her head.

"Afraid it is" Elyza answers gently, her eyes now on the ground and Alicia knows she's lying then.

"They forced you to do it, right? They forced you and you couldn't say no so you- I mean you wouldn't do this to me, right!?"

She knows she sounds hysterical now, the tears staring to actually roll down her cheeks. Elyza looks up and her expression breaks Alicia's heart all over again. She looks so incredibly guilty and Alicia is about to lash out and spew every vile word she can think of, when she see's her nod. She stops, standing completely still as she watches Elyza take a deep breath in as if to compose herself.

"They're dangerous, Alicia" Elyza says firmly, her eyes flickering to the steps to where Jason left "I would have tried to get away if I could"

"Then everything you told me is a lie" Alicia says, speaking her realisation before her brain has even processed it. "Everything about him being your brother and- everything! Everything you told me was a fucking lie!?"

"Princess- no it's not like-"

"And what about-"

"Look cupcake" Elyza says loudly "me telling you that some psycho guys kidnapped me and are using me to bait you cause you're on a fancy ass yacht and have food isn't exactly a story you'd trust. You'd shoot me down and never talk to me again"

That makes Alicia step down, stop to actually think for a moment as she realises what she's seeing in Elyza's eyes is hurt and pain. She's been used and abused, quite literally if the bruises on her arms are anything to go by.

Alicia looks to her family to see if any of them have anything to say on this, but they're all just staring on the scene with the same amount of confusion as Alicia seems to be feeling. Some thuds on the stairs draw her attention back to there, where she realises Jason is coming back.

"This is my chance to fuck these assholes up. They trust me now"

"And my family has to suffer just for your own personal gain?" she asks in a hushed whisper as she's very aware of the threat of Jason hearing her.

"Not exactly" Elyza says back quickly just as Jason and the other man appear at the top of the stairs carrying what looks like pretty much all their supplies.

"Come on sweetheart" Jason says as he makes his way towards the side of the ship where Alicia can just see the edge of a speedboat nearby. "Let your pretty toy here untie the rest of them and lets go" Elyza just nods, giving Alicia a wink before following the others towards the side of the boat.

She stands there infinitely confused by this point just staring after them, before she starts to realise what Elyza could possibly mean. She makes her way over to the others, her eyes still trained on the blonde.

It all happens in a matter of seconds and Alicia is pretty sure if she had blinked she'd have missed the whole thing. The men put their boxes down and Jason starts to climb into the smaller boat when he turns around to see a gun aimed at his head. He only manages to make a sort of straggled scream before the shot is fired. He falls into the water with a splash. The other man turns in disbelief to look at Elyza, a look of terror covering his face before Elyza kicks him into the water and fires a shot at him too. Everything is quiet for a few seconds before Elyza tucks the gun back into the waistbands of her jeans and turns to group.

"Well fuck me" she announces loudly with a grin spread across her face. Everyone just stares at her in complete and utter shock.

Who the hell is this woman?

"You know, I've always hated the name Jason for some reason. Then I met this asshole and I was like oh yeah only giant dick wads are called Jason, of course"

"Okay, question. What the fuck just happened?" Nick asks, pretty much wording everybody's question.

"Oh yeah" Elyza says as if 'ah yes I came on your ship to rob it then killed the guys I was with' probably deserves an explanation. "My name's Elyza Lex. I'm the one Alicia's been chatting up to for the last week"

"Oh so Alicia's girlfriend then"

"Nick!" Alicia almost shouts as her face turns red.

Elyza laughs and embarrassingly enough a lot of the group do as well. It's only as Madison sort of wobbles awkwardly on the floor that Alicia remembers they're all still tied up. She does think of being selfish and leaving them there since they made fun of her. But she knows that makes her a real asshole, and honestly she doesn't want Elyza to think anything bad of her. Which is really really stupid, she knows.

Elyza seems to realise as well as she walks over to them, taking the knife strapped to her leg and cutting through the ropes securing Nick's hands together. For a moment Alicia thinks that her and Nick are actually about to shake hands or high five over his terrible joke. But she quickly moves onto the next person and before Alicia really has much time to reflect on what has just happened in the last minute, everyone is now free and all standing together just staring at the blonde girl putting her knife away.

Strand clears his throat, making Elyza look up and meet his eye "So, do you care to explain what just happened?"

Elyza simply smirks, it now very very obvious that her whole hurt and innocent thing from before was all an act and the sassy confident Elyza Alicia has been talking to is the real Elyza. "I kicked their asses is what. It was pretty cool right?"

"I would rather you hadn't tried to rob me before 'kicking their asses'"

"I didn't try to rob you, they did. And as you can see, I ripped them a new one. So really, you should be thanking me"

Strand just sighs, obviously completely lost on what to say to Elyza "Thank you, I guess" he says unsurely "I guess you'll be wanting to stay here now since we owe you our lives in a sense"

Elyza just shrugs "I mean, I still have their shitty fishing boat" she motions to somewhere on the coast line. At least she wasn't lying about the fishing boat, although Alicia really does need to ask Elyza exactly how she ended up gritting kidnapped. By what Alicia has been told, Elyza is the badass zombie killer when she actually comes across them when they dock. Although looking at her now, all she can see is this goofy kid who makes way too many puns and is too gay for her own good. She can see Ofelia practically swooning already and Elyza's barely spoken ten words in her direction.

"I guess I do have to thank you for sorting Alicia's mistake and stopping those men. Maybe having you around will stop her from making any further mistakes" Strand says, and Alicia starts listening to the conversation again at that.

"Strand, you can't be considering letting her-" Madison starts but is cut off.

"I'm not considering it, I'm doing it. She saved our lives quite literally, she's earned her place just as you all have" He says sternly before turning back to Elyza "Welcome aboard the Abigail"

Elyza grins excitedly in response, stopping when Strand gives her that same stern look "I need to lay down some rules first though. First of all, this my boat-"

"Please don't give us this lecture again, I've heard it three times now" Chris groans. Strand looks at him as if he has a whole other rant to lay on Chris, but then sighs and nods.

"Do as I say and we won't have a problem, okay?" he says, earning a quick nod from Elyza "You'll be sharing a room with Alicia, since you two seem to get on so well"

Alicia doesn't miss the poison behind his words, but she understands that she really does deserve it. Elyza seems pleased at this news and gives Alicia a quick smile before turning back to Strand as he actually lays down the rules the rest of them have already been briefed on.

The evening of excitement comes to an end with everyone going back to what they were doing and Elyza promising she'll go out in the morning to get her supplies from where they're stashed. Everyone seems a little more optimistic about things, or maybe they're all just rather excited that they now have a speed boat to play with.

Alicia's left just starting at the sea as Elyza gets a quick warning from Madison about hurting her precious daughter. And of course Elyza finally gets to give Nick that high five for the joke. Alicia can already tell Nick and Elyza are going to be very good friends.

Before she knows it, the deck is empty of everyone but the two of them. Elyza makes her way over and Alicia knows she's done for. Their eyes meet and like some cheesy romance novel she can't look away. She tries to tell herself it's because they're so blue and she's simply admiring them. But she's always been a terrible liar, even when she's lying to herself.

"Well pretty girl, looks like we're finally meeting"

"You've been here for like an hour, this isn't exactly just meeting"

Elyza laughs softly, the exact grin Alicia had imagined spreads across her face and it makes Alicia's stomach flutter. It's still just the sea making her motion sick she tells herself. But she knows for a fact it's not the sea making her feel like this.

"I'm glad you're just as cute in person. Was worried you might be a 60 year old man, you know, since I didn't get to quiz you on it"

Alicia rolls her eyes "You never shut up, do you?"

"Not unless you shut me up, princess"

Alicia didn't think it was possible to blush and cringe at the same time. But Elyza has just proved that it definitely is, as her comment makes Alicia furiously embarrassed and makes her want to hit the blonde. And of course to make matters worse, Elyza laughs that same laugh that Alicia has come to adore.

"Come on cupcake, show me our room and we can see if you're as straight as you claim to be" Elyza says with a wink and then laughs as Alicia's face heats up even more.

Talking to Elyza was definitely a really really bad idea.


End file.
